Secular music

Secular or saecular (Latin saecularis, "of the ages") is a term usually understood as meaning "worldly" or "non-religious", but when contrasted with cloistered monasteries a cathedral is technically a saecular institution with secular clergy. In vocal music of the classical tradition of western music, secular music is distinguished from both liturgical and devotional religious music as the two main genres of Western music during the Middle Ages and Renaissance era. In such a context the oldest written examples of secular music are songs of the goliards with Latin lyrics. These were followed by vernacular chansons de geste (songs of deeds) and were popular amongst the traveling jongleurs and minstrels of the time.